The "12 Rules of Christmas" for Celebrating Holiday Legally

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- Hoping to alleviate any confusion over the do's and don'ts of celebrating Christmas in schools, workplaces and elsewhere, The Rutherford Institute has issued its "Twelve Rules of Christmas" guidelines, which are available here:

1-Public schoolstudents’ written or spoken personal expressions concerning the religious significance of Christmas (e.g., T-shirts with the slogan, “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season”) may not be censored by school officials absent evidence that the speech would cause a substantial disruption.1

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2-So long as teachers are generally permitted to wear clothing or jewelry or have personal items expressing their views about the holidays, Christian teachers may not be prohibited from similarly expressing their views by wearing Christmas-related clothing or jewelry or carrying Christmas-related personal items.2

3-Public schools may teach students about the Christmas holiday, including its religious significance, so long as it is taught objectively for secular purposes such as its historical or cultural importance, and not for the purpose of promoting Christianity.3

4-Public school teachers may send Christmas cards to the families of their students so long as they do so on their own time, outside of school hours.4

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5-Public schools may include Christmas music, including those with religious themes, in their choral programs if the songs are included for a secular purpose such as their musical quality or cultural value or if the songs are part of an overall performance including other holiday songs relating to Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or other similar holidays.5

6-Public schools may not require students to sing Christmas songs whose messages conflict with the students’ own religious or nonreligious beliefs.6

7-Public school students may not be prohibited from distributing literature to fellow students concerning the Christmas holiday or invitations to church Christmas events on the same terms that they would be allowed to distribute other literature that is not related to schoolwork.7

8-Private citizens or groups may display crèches or other Christmas symbols in public parks subject to the same reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that would apply to other similar displays.8

9-Government entities may erect and maintain celebrations of the Christmas holiday, such as Christmas trees and Christmas light displays, and may include crèches in their displays at least so long as the purpose for including the crèche is not to promote its religious content and it is placed in context with other symbols of the Holiday season as part of an effort to celebrate the public Christmas holiday through its traditional symbols.9

10-Neither public nor private employers may prevent employees from decorating their offices for Christmas, playing Christmas music, or wearing clothing related to Christmas merely because of their religious content so long as these activities are not used to harass or intimidate others.10

11-Public or private employees whose sincerely held religious beliefs require that they not work on Christmas must be reasonably accommodated by their employers unless granting the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer.11

12-Government recognition of Christmas as a public holiday and granting government employees a paid holiday for Christmas does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.12

Rutherford Institute attorneys are preparing to deal with the annual onslaught of calls to their legal hotline regarding the censorship of Christmas celebrations.

In years past, the Institute has been besieged by calls from parents and teachers alike complaining about schools changing their Christmas concerts to "winter holiday programs" and renaming Christmas "winter festival" or cancelling holiday celebrations altogether to avoid offending those who do not celebrate the various holidays.

"Political correctness should never trump the First Amendment," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. "Schools, government officials and businesses have an opportunity to take the high road and not be relegated to playing the Grinch this Christmas. It's time for some common sense this Christmas."

Whitehead pointed to an incident that happened a few years ago in a Chicago suburb as a perfect example of Christmas celebrations being sabotaged by political correctness. Schools in Oak Hill, Ill., had decided to cancel traditional holiday celebrations, such as Christmas, under pressure from a parent. Halloween was to be renamed "fall festival," and Christmas "winter festival." However, after angry parents voiced their objections at an emergency meeting, school board officials reportedly agreed to allow traditional holiday celebrations.

In years past, nativity displays, Christmas carols, Christmas trees, wreaths, candy canes and even the colors red and green have been banned as part of the effort to avoid any reference to Christmas, Christ or God. Thanksgiving has also come under fire in recent years. Several years ago, for example, Institute attorneys were contacted by a concerned parent who remarked that whereas in previous years teachers in their school district had been told not to mention Christmas, Easter or anything relating to God, they could no longer even mention the word "Thanksgiving" because "the pilgrims offended the Indians" and "Thanksgiving was never intended to be thanks to God!"

Another parent with children in the public schools was upset and concerned when she received a letter from school officials directing classroom mothers not to use plates and napkins with Thanksgiving printed on them at their children's fall parties. As she recounted, "It seems like they are worried about offending just one person and are worried about law suits. In the past, this school has gone from 'winter' parties that banned red and green cupcakes and napkins, to banning any winter party in fear that it may be mistaken for Christmas."